welcome!

Here live posts and pages on a variety of spiritual topics, as well as excerpts from forth-coming books.

Giving It All Away

We want anyone who enjoys and benefits from this information to have free access to as much of it as possible. The internet offers a wonderful medium for accomplishing this.

Many of the posts are parts of series, so if you’ve arrived to follow a thread of thought, the Categories links will reward you most effortlessly.

If you would like to read the contents of the book All About Enlightenment, please visit the page “the book AAE” (in the menu) and its sub-pages. These pages compile the material according to chapter, since the order they were posted on this site is rather meandering. (Status as of April4, 2013: I’m still assembling these pages, so please forgive any inconsistencies in formatting – thank you!)

28 thoughts on “welcome!”

Thank you, Mandy! I’ve only had time to read your current post so far (HOW EXCITING!!!), but I look forward to more! I’m particularly interested because I know that one of the things on my to-do list is drawing parallels between some of the Gospels and some Buddhist Teachings… I’ll look forward to your comments… :) (Although don’t hold your breath, because I thought I’d have finished that about a year ago…)

Once again I have posted an acknowledgement, acceptance and appreciation of a fresh bunch of Awards that the “Ben Naga” site has been offered. To see details, go to http://bennaga.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/a-quartet-and-an-oxymoron/.
The reason I am informing you of this is that your site is included in the list of my nominees to continue the chain(s). My post contains details of what you need to do if you wish to participate.

I recognise that several folk may wish to say “Thanks, but no thanks”. If you are among them, let me repeat a slightly rephrased version of what I wrote there: –

“I know several people featured here don’t like to participate in the offering and receiving of awards. No blame; indeed I may join you one day. Meantime, if an unwanted invitation arrives at your site please ignore it, beyond knowing that it was sent to demonstrate the esteem in which I hold you and your site.”

I’m so happy you stopped by! It’s a labor of love, for sure… If you ever miss me around LRC, it’s because I’m trying to keep up here :) check out “thinktoask.com”, too, you might like it even more, altho there’s not much posted there yet. <3xx!

Thanks for following my blog, I didn’t expect anyone to follow my blog. Anyway I also have another blog: http://lisasgeomagic.blogspot.com/, this is mixed with some art of mine. I saw on your profile that you also like to draw.

Hi, Lisa! Thank you for having followed mine, too! I look forward to checking out your other blog and artwork :) I feel a connection because I had a very similar heart/white light experience to yours, about 12 years ago, and couldn’t find any explanations at the time. It will be delightful to compare notes! Best wishes and Namaste :) Leslee

Hi, Papa Joe! Thanks again for the comment, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blogs! I’ve had a very busy week with little time for interaction, so I hope this week will be better in that respect… I look forward to interacting more soon! Cheers, Leslee

I hear you. I hold no, specific religious affiliations. But if I did, I’ve often felt that Buddhism was the path I’d follow. I was raised Christian Protestant but it never felt right. My business partner is Hindu and it feels closer to correct. But Buddhism strips off all of the unnecessary complexities of the other beliefs and celebrates the good in everything.

Thank you, SuMan! Your understanding of Buddhism – ultimately – is correct (I think ;), and that’s one of the reasons why I post; I was surprised to find that “formal” Buddhism can be almost as fraught with complexities and contradictions as Christianity.

In truth, it’s quite simple, and although contradictions seem to arise as we contemplate, my experience has been that there’s always an explanation.

I think one difference is that among the various traditions, lineages, sects, in Buddhism, Equanimity is so strongly and consistently emphasized by all of them, that it’s hard for a Buddhist to get away with criticizing or condemning another group or person.

I’m so glad to have connected with you here, thank you for commenting!

Thanks twice. I appreciate your reply, and appreciate your use of SuMan. I think I’ll adopt it! I’ve never felt right and have not signed any note as “Suicide Man” and want to be Phoenix. Perhaps that is why a philosophy that believes in reincarnation appeals to me. ;)

I don’t mean to trivialize. Buddhism has long appealed to me not for any ideas of an after life. I appreciate the spirituality of looking to become one with the universe.

I don’t pretend to understand everything about it well, but what I have touched on is wonderful. And just to clarify, I did make a typo in my original comment, but don’t have the option to edit. If you do and would like to correct it, I did not mean to say, “But Buddhism strips off all …”. The “But” should not be there. If anything it should read, “As I understand it, Buddhism stirps off …”.

Not having a specific, religious affiliation, I’m also attracted to Buddhism as it seems to see itself as a philosophy and only those on the outside label it a religion. Or am I corret in that?

Hi, SuMan, (I kind of like it too – one more “in” and you’ll be in the sun! (sorry, I can’t resist a lame joke sometimes…)

I’m so glad you’re getting something from the posts! :) I will look for that earlier comment, I do think I can edit it for you…

I think you’re right about Buddhism, and this brings up a point that is very important to me: even within such an open set of philosophies as Buddhism, all of the “trappings” and religious aspects may still arise… It’s up to the individual to decide what parts of it work for them, and to focus on what brings progress for *them*. This is one of the reasons I’m no longer affiliated with a particular group – it was not easy for *me* to keep aligned with what I feel is the essence of the teachings (for myself) while in an environment that was quite ritualistic and formal. So I left that situation, and the only bitterness I felt about it was abstract – I was disheartened that I was having to make a major change in my life – again. There was no fault in where I was previously, I was just blessed to understand that the change was needed.

That’s a long answer; the short answer to your question is that, as I understand it, some people regard Buddhism as a religion and some regard it as a philosophy. It basically describes how things work in this world, and the religion part comes in when we get into the details of how to go about dealing with how things work. I hope that makes some sense – please let me know if you have more questions!

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